March 1, 2026 

1. The Indicator of Love: From Servants to Friends 

Do I truly love Christ? This is the question the Lord places before us today. There is an indicator of whether we love Jesus, and it is found in the words of Christ Himself. 

John 15:13–15 (NKJV)  “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends if you do whatever I command you. No longer do I call you servants, for a servant does not know what his master is doing; but I have called you friends, for all things that I heard from My Father I have made known to you.”

The Lord says that if there is love, He will change the way He calls you. Until now, He called you a servant. But as the relationship grows in love, He says, “I will no longer call you that. You are My friend, My companion.” When the level of your relationship changes, God begins to reveal things to you – about your future, your family, your generation, the church you will join, the town you live in, your business, and your life. God in heaven will speak. 

When God was about to destroy Sodom and Gomorrah, He said, “Can I hide this from My friend Abraham?” God reveals everything when the level of your relationship changes. To the one who constantly seeks His face, He will speak about your land and your future. If there is love, you will receive information – He will tell you secrets. He will tell you God’s plans. 

2. Worship Within the Bond of Love 

We come to church and listen to some songs, we sing those songs, and then we leave. But worship is like a love song sung to the Lord. Three things go together: Love, Honor (Respect), and Value. If you are walking in love, you know how to show respect, you will honor the Lord, and you will discern the value. 

What value have you given to Jesus? Whom do you value the most in life? 

Matthew 26:7–8 (NKJV)  “A woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head as He sat at the table. But when His disciples saw it, they were indignant, saying, ‘Why this waste?’”

Men have a problem discerning value. The disciples sat there, but the value no one gave, that woman was giving it. She took that precious alabaster box and broke it for the Lord. She was giving a price. The men sitting there said, “What a waste!” For 300 denarii, it could have been given to the poor. What was given to the Lord felt like waste to them. But she said, “My Jesus is greater than this.” 

Nothing is more precious than Jesus. Nothing is more valuable than Jesus. Nothing is more precious, more important, more valuable than Jesus. That is not said with words, but from the heart. What we call worship is a manifestation of love. In your heart, He must be more valuable than anything else. 

In each of our hands, God has given each an alabaster vase. With this, before the Lord, one should be able to say, “Lord, You are greater than all of this.” 

3. Love’s Devotion: Mary Magdalene at the Tomb 

John 20:1 (NKJV)  “Now the first day of the week Mary Magdalene went to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb.”

Right in the darkness, to see the dead Jesus, she went there. Where is Peter? Where is John? Where is Matthew? They all lay down and slept. But in the early morning, while it was still dark, Mary went. Not to see the living Jesus, but the dead Jesus – because she loved Him. She said, “I will go there. I want to see that Jesus. I love Him!” 

Your love for the Lord should not be forced upon you because the Lord can do anything for you. You should love Him for who He is. Jesus has conquered death and the abyss. He is worthy of worship. He is the way, the truth, and the life. 

John 20:13–14 (NKJV)  “Then they said to her, ‘Woman, why are you weeping?’ She said to them, ‘Because they have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid Him.’ Now when she had said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing there, and did not know that it was Jesus.”

There is a weeping within love. Tears will come. Have you ever wept for the person you love? When Jesus reveals Himself, if a tear flows from your eyes, your love for the Lord is growing. When Jesus came close and spoke to her, she did not realize it was Jesus – her eyes were filled with tears. She asked, “Where have you laid Him?” Don’t weep for Peter. Peter does not have the value of Jesus. Don’t weep for the pastor. The pastor does not have the value of Jesus. Your weeping is for Jesus – the One who, until the last drop of blood, thought of you on Calvary. 

If you love Him, let your heart be moved for Him. If you love Him, your heart will move for Him. 

4. The Promise of Love: God Makes His Home in You 

John 14:23 (NKJV)  “Jesus answered and said to him, ‘If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him.’”

Jesus said, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word. He will keep My word. And My Father will love him. And We will come to him and make Our home with him. We will come to him and dwell with him.” There is no greater joy than that! If you love Him, if you truly love Him, you will obey His Word, and the Father and the Son will come and make their dwelling in you. 

Today, let Jesus and the Father make their dwelling in you. Those who desire it should obey Him. Those who desire it and love Him – let Jesus take residence in your life. 

5. The Principle of Focus: Keep Your Eyes on Jesus 

2 Kings 2:9–10 (NKJV)  “And so it was, when they had crossed over, that Elijah said to Elisha, ‘Ask! What shall I do for you, before I am taken away from you?’ Elisha said, ‘Please let a double portion of your spirit be upon me.’ So he said, ‘You have asked a hard thing. Nevertheless, if you see me when I am taken from you, it shall be so for you; but if not, it shall not be so.’”

This is something called the principle of steering – pay attention, steer. What we always look forward to is to look closely. I must look closely at my Jesus! If you will keep your eyes upon me, what is upon me will double upon you. 

When Elijah was taken, fire chariots came, there was a whirlwind, a cyclone. Angels came there. But the prophet said, even while all this was happening, “If you will keep your eyes upon me.” When a cyclone comes, do not get distracted. Do not let your focus wander. Inside the cyclone, there is mud, soil, and sound. But do not lose focus. 

Prayer for the Middle East: The Spirit of God spoke to the believers in the Middle East – no matter how great a cyclone comes, even if thousands fall beside you, tens of thousands to your left and right, without harming you, there is a God who watches over you. 

Psalm 91:7 (NKJV) 

“A thousand may fall at your side, and ten thousand at your right hand; but it shall not come near you.” 

God will keep you. The angels of God will be your protection. Pray for the Middle East, for the families, for the churches, for the people there. Father, we speak for Your protection over Your people! 

The prophet said, “You are not to look at the whirlwind physically, but spiritually: if you still keep your eyes upon me.” Your eyes may be filled with mud because of the whirlwind, many things may come to distract you, but even in the midst of that, if you still keep your focus on Jesus – love has a focus. That focus is Jesus. Our focus is Christ. Our focus is anointing. Our focus is the Word of God. 

Some will say, “Pastor, after hearing many prophecies, nothing has happened in my life.” Your focus has drifted! The Word does not change. He who speaks the Word does not change it. Your attention is lacking. You believed at the beginning and clapped at the start. But when the wind blew, when the storms came, your focus changed. Your focus shifted. 

6. The Power of “If”: Conditions and Promises 

2 Chronicles 7:14 (NKJV)  “If My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.”

“If” is a condition. If you do this – humble yourselves, pray, and seek My face – I will hear from heaven, forgive your sins, and bring healing to your land. The condition is upon us; the fulfillment is upon God. 

2 Corinthians 5:17 (NKJV)  “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

If anyone is in Jesus Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone, the old has passed, and the new has come. You are not thinking about the old – you are a new person in Christ! 

Don’t concentrate on the whirlwind. Don’t focus on the storm, don’t look at pain or circumstances. Christ is the focus of love. He is helping someone this morning. 

In John chapter 5, for 38 years a man lay by the pool called Bethesda. When an angel came and stirred the water, the one who jumped in would be healed. For 38 years he lay there. The Lord came and asked, “Do you want to be made well?” He said, “No one is there to help me.” It is not that you lack attention – there is a release happening! I want my circumstances to change. What is intended to be given to the Lord, I have come to receive it. 

7. All Things Work Together for Good When You Love the Lord 

Romans 8:28 (NKJV) 

“And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.” 

If you love the Lord, all things will work together for good. All the pain that comes in your life will turn into a blessing. To carry along an unnecessary pain, God does not allow it. If a pain has gone along in your life, He will turn it into goodness. When we go to the gym, we say “No pain, no gain.” Here you should write down: “If there is pain, I have gain.” 

Nine Ways God Turns Your Trials into Triumphs: 

1. Pain Becomes Gain – All the pain in your life will turn into a blessing for those who love God. 

Psalm 66:10–12 (NKJV)  “For You, O God, have tested us; You have refined us as silver is refined. You brought us into the net; You laid affliction on our backs. You have caused men to ride over our heads; we went through fire and through water; but You brought us out to rich fulfillment.”

We went through fire and through water. Yet God brought us into abundance – into gain, into rich fulfillment. 

2. Pressure Produces Diamonds – Is there pressure in your life? It will make you like a precious diamond. Financially, physically, mentally, within family ties, and concerning children – people experience all kinds of pressure. But it is this pressure that turns coal into a diamond. If you are going through a time of pressure, did you love Christ in the midst of it? Did you look to Jesus? God is making you something precious. 
3. Weakness Becomes Strength – God will strengthen your weakness. When you choose to follow and love the Lord, your weakness will be turned into power. God allows trials not without His knowledge – from your weakness, to make you strong, God has allowed it. You continue to love Jesus. 
4. Wounds Become Pearls – Your wounds will turn into pearls. Just as an irritant enters an oyster and through a chemical process becomes a beautiful, valuable pearl, so too God turns your wounds into something precious. Even when a wound comes in your life, forgive those you must forgive, and walk while loving Jesus. The God who turns wounds into pearls – you will see it. By His wound, we are healed. 
5. Rejection Becomes Election – Whenever there is rejection, look at David. Even when the prophet came to his home, he was rejected by his family. But God chose him – a man after God’s own heart. The sweet psalmist of Israel, even when rejection came, God chose him. 
6. Betrayal Becomes Promotion – When you love the Lord, betrayal will become a promotion. 

Genesis 50:20 (NKJV)  “But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive.”

Joseph’s brothers betrayed him and threw him into a broken well. But that was the shortcut to reach the palace! Some rejected you, wounded you, and betrayed you – that is a means God uses to bring you where you belong. 

7. Delays Become Divine Designs – Even knowing Lazarus had died, the Lord delayed coming. When Lazarus lay sick, He was called, yet He still did not go. After Lazarus died, what difference does it make now? But in God’s divine design, that tomb has become a tourist attraction even today, a nation’s income. Even after generations of delay, God’s divine design produces lasting impact. Do not waste your troubles – love Jesus. He will turn it around for the good for those who love Him. 
8. Shame Becomes Glory – Your state of shame will become glory. 

Hebrews 12:2 (NKJV)  “Looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.”

Without regarding the shame of the cross, Christ obeyed the Father. Therefore, God seated Him at the right hand of the Father’s throne and glorified Him. The experiences that seem like your shames, God will turn them into glory when you place your attention on the Lord. 

9. Death Becomes Resurrection – When you love the Lord, death itself becomes resurrection! Blessed be the name of Jesus Christ who rose from the dead! Your dead conditions may be laid to rest in Jesus’ name today. 

Healing and Prophetic Declarations 

All the sicknesses in the body, in the name of Jesus of Nazareth, are being healed today! 

The ulcers inside the stomach, may be healed in Jesus’ name! 

The feeling of failure that strikes your mind – the demonic scheme is being broken! 

You are victorious in Jesus! You will triumph in Christ! 

The one who has overcome death is with you. I am not defeated, I will not be defeated. I am victorious in the name of Jesus! 

The fears of defeat, the Lord removes. The thoughts of defeat, He removes. 

Divine deliverances are happening. Healings are happening. In Jesus’ name, let sicknesses be laid to rest! 

The mind that is bound – in Jesus’ name, be loosened! Jesus is breaking it. Be free! 

Lift your voice to Jesus! Keep your attention upon Him! Keep your focus upon Him! 

SERMON SUMMARY 

• Love is the indicator of our relationship with Christ – it transforms us from servants to friends (John 15:13–15). 

• Three pillars of worship: Love, Honor, and Value – exemplified by the woman with the alabaster flask (Matthew 26:7–8). 
• True love for Jesus is demonstrated by devotion in the dark – like Mary Magdalene at the tomb (John 20:1). 
• If anyone loves Christ and keeps His Word, the Father and Son will make their home in that person (John 14:23). 
• Keep your focus on Jesus – the principle of steering from Elijah and Elisha (2 Kings 2:9–10). 
• The power of “If”: God’s conditional promises require our obedience (2 Chronicles 7:14; 2 Corinthians 5:17). 
• All things work together for good for those who love God (Romans 8:28) – pain, pressure, weakness, wounds, rejection, betrayal, delays, shame, and death are all transformed. 
• God turns pain into gain, pressure into diamonds, weakness into strength, wounds into pearls, rejection into election, betrayal into promotion, delays into divine designs, shame into glory, and death into resurrection. 

Key Scriptures 

John 15:13–15 • Matthew 26:7–8 • John 20:1, 13–14 • John 14:23 • 2 Kings 2:9–10 • Psalm 91:7 • 2 Chronicles 7:14 • 2 Corinthians 5:17 • Romans 8:28 • Psalm 66:10–12 • Genesis 50:20 • Hebrews 12:2